Monday, December 10, 2018

Dream Again

Today I was reminded of Isaiah Austin's story. He played basketball at Baylor University and was expected to be chosen in the 2014 NBA draft until he was diagnosed with Marfan syndrome three days prior, a condition that affects the heart and prematurely ended his basketball career.

Three days before Austin's childhood dream was about to come true, it was taken away from him. Devastating.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver did a wonderful thing that night by recognizing Austin during the draft with an honorary selection. The crowd gave the young man a standing ovation, and Austin was moved to tears. It was an emotional moment for all involved.

But what really stood out for me was Austin's interview. When Jay Williams asked about Austin's next step, he said, "I'm going to dream again."

And he did. In 2016, he was medically cleared to play basketball and has been competing professionally overseas ever since.

So many of our dreams get crushed. A marriage falls apart. A job lays you off. A business fails. An idea implodes. And too many of us give up. We call it quits. We stop dreaming.

I've been there over and over again. Spent hundreds of hours writing books that never got published. Recorded podcasts that never became popular. Had creative ideas that flopped. But I've always picked myself up, dusted myself off, and dared to dream again.

Isaiah Austin was a kid who had his dream pulverized. And he chose to dream again. If he can do it, so can we. If a lost dream has you paralyzed, it's time to dream again.